Knitwear designer and writer

The nights are drawing in here and it feels all kinds of cosy. This week we’ve had some beautiful cool sunny days, which, in Bristol, means hot air balloons take to the skies – it’s the best! I’m trying to savour every drop before it gets really cold.

To add to the autumn feels, I’m sharing a peek inside Mollie Makes brand new knitting book today – oh boy – it’s a doozy! How to Knit is a collection of 20 projects by some fab designers. I’m really honoured to be included among them with my Peruvian-themed phone cases, and super excited to see they made the front cover! They were inspired by a trip I took to Peru, which I’ve written about before, if you’re curious to find out more.

I’ve got two copies to give away so scroll to the bottom to enter and let me know what you love most in the comments. If you have any problems with the Rafflecopter entry form, or don’t have a Twitter account, just leave a comment and i’ll add you in :)

*Congratulations to the winners, Asha and Julie! Big thanks to everyone who entered.*

Knit Today magazine (from the publishers of Mollie Makes) has had a major facelift and it looks great, don’t you think? Really fresh and clean. I had the pleasure of shooting some how-to steps and videos with the team, and they’re a lovely bunch – spot those orange nails!

One of my favourite places to knit is on the train – it’s such a calm and solitary place (the quiet carriage, anyway!) This is what I like to carry with me, and a few top tips I’ve learnt from knitting out in the wild – I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve been stuck without a darning needle, or something equally crucial!

Let’s talk about casting on! Just like the foundations of a building, the cast on is a crucial starting point for your projects and is really important to get right. It seems to me every knitter has their preferred ‘everyday’ cast on, which could be totally different to the next. Even now I’m discovering the benefits of other methods and learning to stray away from my faithful favourites when the need arises. Heyo backwards loop! In the name of science I decided to work up some swatches and compare them.

Hello, friends! I hope you’re enjoying some sunny rays in your corner of the world. Bristol has been glorious recently and I’ve been taking time out for evening strolls, and alfresco dates with my kindle whenever I can. I’ve been conspicuously absent from the blog for the last 6 months, beavering away on freelance work, so it’s nice to be back after a few trips away to recharge.

In April the mister and I took a trip to the lakeside town of Lausanne in Switzerland for his 30th birthday. It’s a gorgeous old university town with a really artsy vibe, not dissimilar to Bristol. Just add a gorgeous view and awe-inspiring mountains!

Kitchener stitch is an invisible way to graft two sets of live stitches together. It’s used to close the toes of socks, the tips of mittens, and anywhere that you’d like your seams to look uninterrupted. You’ve probably seen kitchener stitch used to graft stocking stitch together, so it might come as a surprise to see it used with garter stitch, but it’s entirely possible. The trick is to work out the orientation of the stitches, and then the correct combination of movements with the needle. Let’s look at how it works on my Jersey Basket pattern: